VIP Guest: Jason Galeon

Weta Digital senior lighting technical director Jason Galeon recently visited Media Design School, sharing his insights and experience with students. He also took the time to visit classes and check out the current projects underway.

Weta Digital senior lighting technical director Jason Galeon recently visited Media Design School, sharing his insights and experience with students. He also took the time to visit classes and check out the current projects underway.

Prior to joining Weta in 2009, Jason held similar roles at Framestore and Sony Pictures Imageworks in the United States. He has worked on films such as Ice Age, Matrix: Revolutions, Fantastic Four, I Am Legend, The Dark Knight, and The Chronicles of Narnia. His more recent projects include: Avatar, The Avengers, The Adventures of Tintin and The Hobbit.

Jason created Batman's sticky bombs for The Dark Knight

Here are a few insights from his presentation

His favourite part of starting at a new studio: “That first day on a new movie when you find out what you are going to spend your life on for the next few months…or years in some cases.”

On movie magic: “It lies in your imagination and understanding. If you are not pushing against the technology available to you then you are probably not imagining hard enough.”

On working in a smaller studio: “You wear many hats, it is not enough to know one discipline, your skills bleed into other departments.”

Advice in upskilling: “The tools are constantly changing and no-one has the time to train you – you are constantly learning. You can pick it up as long as you know the fundamentals, which is what you are getting here [at Media Design School].”

How to keep up your skills between graduating and getting the first job: “Work with friends on your own little projects. It’s not as much about your CV as about your demo reel and having years worth of personal projects puts you in a much better position. Show off your skills and produce. It is not enough to know it – you have to show it.”

Hi! I'm Doris from the Admissions team here at Media Design School. Please contact me if you have any questions.